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House committee guts bill allowing higher alcohol beer in Utah grocery stores

A bill to put higher-alcohol beer in Utah grocery and convenience stores was shelved by a House committee Wednesday, after an amendment changed it to create a task force.

The original version of SB132 would have hiked the alcohol limit on retail beer from its current 3.2 percent by weight to 4.8 percent.

If that change was approved, Utah’s alcohol limit for grocery store beer still would rank among the nation’s strictest, said the measure’s sponsor, Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R- Layton.

Utah’s predominant faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, came out against the original proposal, but Stevenson said the measure is about commerce, not alcohol.